Feel Awkward Over the Last Google Search on Your Phone? Here’s How to Delete It

No worries. With just two easy steps, you can wipe out your most recent searches.

At its I/O conference in 2021, Google announced a new way for you to scrub your recent search history.

Chances are you’ve used Google Search on your phone to look up something random, weird, scary or downright embarrassed. But there’s no need to feel uncomfortable or silly. Google has a quick way to delete your search history in the app from the last 15 minutes. (And your search history isn’t the only data Google has on you. Here’s an in-depth guide to viewing Google’s record of your online activity and minimizing the personal information it can track.)

This quick-delete feature, which the search giant unveiled at its Google I/O developers conference in 2021, is among a handful of options designed to protect user privacy.

While Google didn’t get into the nitty-gritty of the various reasons why someone might want to expunge the record of their search history, the company did demonstrate how to do it, along with hiding select pictures from Google Photos.

You can watch how to do it in the video below, or scroll down for instructions on how to delete your recent search history.

Step 1: Tap on your profile picture to access your menu.

Step 2: Click Delete last 15 minutes.

That’s it! When you’ve done that, Google will erase all your search history from the previous quarter of an hour.

For more, check out how to control what information your apps can access in Android 12 and three Google Maps tricks.